Robin Hood is an enduring figure in English folklore and popular culture.Over the years his appeal is undiminished and his popularity is reflected in the many films and television series which have been based upon the tales. However, little is known of the origins of the Robin Hood legends and whether or not such a man ever lived.
The Robin Hood of popular culture is a dispossessed knight, who was robbed of his lands while fighting in the Crusades. Returning home he finds his estates seized, his father dead and he is driven to live the life of an outlaw in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. Here, he conducts a guerrilla campaign against the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham, decadent nobles and assorted avaricious bishops ably assisted by his right hand man Little John, Friar Tuck and the rest of his motley band. Occasionally Lady Marion assists them. This Robin Hood manages to remain loyal to the authority of "good King Richard" while causing general mayhem as he tries to right the wrongs of the King's corrupt servants.
A variation on this theme sees Robin as a dispossessed Saxon noble - Robin of Locksley - who leads the native Saxon resistance against the Norman invaders in similar fashion to Hereward the Wake in the Fenlands of East Anglia.
These popular conceptions of Robin Hood have formed the basis for some entertaining films over the years such as "Robin Hood , Prince of Thieves" and ,a personal favourite, the Russian film "Robin Hood and The Sheriff of Nottingham" starring Boris Kemelski which manages to tread a thin line between a medieval romp and communist propaganda.
The Robin Hood legends were also the basis for two long running television series -
"Robin Hood" made in the late 1950s starred Richard Greene and was set in a pristine clean Sherwood Forest. In this series Robin and Marion were nobles as they spoke with home counties accents whilst the Merry Men (a troupe of British character actors) had a wide range of regional dialects to indicate their lower social standing. For its time the series provided good entertainment and was a regular item on children's television during the 1960s when I first saw it.(from memory we used to see it on a Thursday evening when we got home from school).
A later series, "Robin of Sherwood" was made in the 1980s.This had a larger budget so was filmed on location and added a further twist by endowing Robin with some of the qualities of "The Green Man" a figure from British folk-lore. Robin's followers were a mixed bunch of characters who were often at each other's throats and spent as much time quarreling amongst themselves as they did fighting the Sheriff.
Three series were made. The first two featuring Michael Praed as Robin of Locksley the son of Ailric a Saxon.He was called by a mythic woodland spirit Herne the Hunter and became the people's champion known as "Robin I'The Hood". This Robin was eventually killed by the Sherrif's men at the end of the second series as Praed wanted to leave. The third series saw Jason Connery taking over the lead role as Robert of Huntingdon the son of a Saxon noble who then accepted the call of Herne The Hunter. "Robin of Sherwood" was an excellent series with a fine cast and intelligent plots. Sadly, Goldcrest the production company went into bankruptcy which meant that no further episodes were made.
These popular twentieth century views of Robin Hood owe much to nineteenth-century novels such as "Ivanhoe" by Sir Walter Scott. What do we know of the earlier sources ?
In his book "Robin Hood" , Professor J.C. Holt examines source material including manuscripts, court records , popular ballads and topographical evidence. What emerges is a history very similar to that of the legends of King Arthur - a few popular sources which have been added to and in some instances corrupted over the centuries.
The Sources
The earliest known source is a collection of five poems or ballads in a manuscript collection. These were collected around 1450 although the source material is certainly much older. The English printer Wynken de Worde, who worked between 1492 and 1534, printed texts describing the adventures of Robin Hood and the 17th century "Percy Folio" contains some of this older material.
The earliest known reference to Robin Hood is in the 14th century poem "Piers Plowman" written by William Langland around 1377. This contains the lines:-
" I kan noght parfitly my Paternoster
as the preest is syngeth,
But I kan rymes of Robyn hood and Randolf Erl of Chestre"
("I don't know my Paternoster perfectly
, as the priest sings it
But I know rhymes about Robin Hood and Randolph, Earl of Chester")
This indicates that stories of Robin Hood were widely known and were therefore much earlier in origin than the written sources.
What emerges from the source material is that Robin is a yeoman - not a nobleman. He fights with both the sword and bow. He can be callous - on one occasion he kills a bishop's little pageboy for no good reason. Importantly, the tales refer to "Edward our comely King" (either Edward II 1307-27 or Edward III 1327-77) which places them later than the Crusades which took place during the reign of Richard the Lionheart. Some of the tales are not based in Sherwood Forest at all but in the Forest of Barnsdale in modern day Yorkshire.
The term "yeoman" is interesting as it described a broad spectrum of medieval society. The peasantry were a distinct class who performed labour service on the lands of their lord or the Church. The word 'yeoman' covered a range of people including servants in noble households, the King's foresters and court officials, skilled artisans and craftsmen. An extreme example was the poet Geoffrey Chaucer who was described as a yeoman although he held several important posts at court, was an accomplished scholar and served as a diplomat. If Robin Hood was a yeoman it places him in the middle ranks of medieval society below a squire and knight but several ranks above the poor peasant.
Medieval society was more fluid than the rigid feudal structure which many people believe was the norm. In some parts of England the classic manorial system of administration and fedual social structure hardly existed at all. For example, the medieval population of the county of Kent had a high percentage of freemen and similar disparities existed in other counties. It may be best to think of yeomen as the upper-working and lower middle-classes of the day, in a period before the professions such as lawyers and doctors acquired higher social standing. If Robin Hood was a yeoman turned outlaw , he certainly suffered a fall from grace and change in fortune but he is hardly the dispossessed nobleman of popular belief.
Later poems and ballads about Robin Hood added many of the elements which we associate with the character today. The 16th century was the high point of balladry and several later tales emerged during this period which indicate that Robin Hood was an established character in the media of the time.
That there are few early written sources survive may be explained if the likely audience for the ballads is examined. Unlike the Arthurian myths which were popular entertainment in noble households , the tales of Robin Hood were aimed at a different audience. Poems and ballads extolling the escapades and qualiities of men who lived outside the law could hardly be performed at court before an audience which included many people responsible for maintaining law and order. Instead the poems and ballads had a more common-place audience in the taverns, ale-houses and market places of the day.This resulted in an oral tradition which may explain why there are so few written sources.
Robin Hood later became a popular figure in the traditional May Games - lively rumbustious occasions which often ended in riots. The roles of Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Maid Marion and the Merry Men were acted out by players to raise money for the Church. This was probably the source of the later "robbing the rich to give to the poor" quality attributed to the character.
During the May Games, the character of Robin Hood was usually dressed in green (the Lincoln green of later association). It is possible that the Green Man - a forest spirit derived from an older folk-lore character possibly a Celtic deity - was merged with the popular character from the ballads so that Robin Hood replaced the Green Man while retaining some of the former's characteristics.
So far the literary evidence provides some clues to the character of Robin Hood - a yeoman, possibly active in the 13th century. However are there any other clues to his origins ?
Like King Arthur, there are many places and sites in England which claim a connection with Robin Hood. Many of these are simply named after the character and are some distance away from the traditional location of Nottinghamshire. Some of the famous sites such as Little John's grave at Hathersedge and Robin Hood's Well are in fact structures which were built many years later.So the topographic evidence is not reliable.
There are , however, other sources which may have been synthesised with the Robin Hood ballads to form the character which developed over the years. There are four sources which are of interest comprising three nobles and a band of outlaws.
First, Hereward The Wake. Hereward is recorded in the Domesday Book as having fled the land during the reign of Edward the Confessor. It is further recorded that Hereward led a band hostile to the Norman invaders from a base on the Isle of Ely. In 1071 , Hereward and his followers looted and burned Peterborough Abbey. It is possible that he was reconciled with the Crown as several Herewards are recorded as landholders in Lincolnshire and the Fenlands in the 1086 survey.
A 13th century manuscript "De gestii Herewardi Saxonis" ("The deeds of Hereward the Saxon") records English resistance but states that Hereward's adventures were the result of his being disinherited by his father. The activities of Hereward have similarities to the Robin Hood legends and ballads about Hereward were popular - is it possible that over the years the two became inter-linked as the fame of Hereward slipped from popular folk memory ?
The second individual is Eustace the Monk. Eustace was a French monk who repeatedly changed sides during wars between the English and the French serving both King John and Henry III of England and Philip of France. In 1205 , forces led by Eustace captured Sark in the Channel Islands. In 1217, Eustace was captured by Henry III's troops following a battle near Sandwich in Kent and he was beheaded on the spot. Eustace's challenges to Royal authority are similar to those associated with Robin Hood and it could be said that the character of Friar Tuck is possibly derived from this source.
The third individual is Fulk fitz Warin who is a colourful character. Fulk was a Welsh baron who was declared outlaw in 1200 following the loss of a legal claim to the barony and castle of Whittington in Shropshire. It is thought that the real reason he was declared outlaw was that he killed the successful claimant having lost a legal suit. Having been declared an outlaw, Fulk then waged war against King John for three years before being pardoned. Having been pardoned he then joined the Barons Rebellion. Surprisingly, given his record of hostility to the Crown, Fulk had a remarkable talent for survival and died of old age in 1257. There were several ballads about Fulk which were popular - could these have also been merged with those about Robin Hood ?
The final candidate is a trio of outlaws - Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough and William of Cloudesley. The careers of the three have strong similarities to Robin and his band with one exception - they were based in Cumbria. Poems about Adam Bell were popular until the 16th century when their popularity waned. From 16th century sources, it is evident that the tales of Adam Bell and Robin Hood often borrowed passages from each other although it is possible that either could have been the source for the other.
The next source is evidence from 13th century Court Rolls and other legal documents. Evidence from surnames such as Robynhud , Robenhode , Robehod and Robinhood which are found in many documents from different parts of England. It is apparant that these were terms used to describe individuals who had been found guilty and declared outlaw.
For example, the King's Rembrancer Memoranda Roll of Easter 1262 for Berkshire records a fine of one mark being imposed on the Prior of Sandleford for unlawfully seizing the chattels of 'William Robehod, fugitive'. The Roll of the Justices in Eyre , Berkshire for 1261 has a matching entry showing an indictment against a criminal gang of three men and two women suspected of robbery and harbouring fugitives. The gang had fled the jurisdiction of the court and had been declared outlaw. The group included a 'William, son of Robert le Fevere' whose chattels were seized by the Prior of Sandleford.
The two documents show that having been charged and then declared outlaw after he fled from justice , William le Fevere was later referred to as William Robehod denoting his outlaw status. Hence 'Robin Hood' was a nickname for persons declared outlaw. This is also evident in legal documents from other parts of the country. A later example from Sevenoaks , Kent also records the misdeeds of an individual described as "John le Petit" ('Little John'). The Berkshire example provides an early date of 1261.If Robin Hood was a nickname, the real Robin Hood must have lived around this time and been a figure of some renown if his name was then used as legal term to describe outlaws..
A candidate for the mantle of the "real" Robin Hood is known to have lived during the period identified in the earliest poems although these are later than the date from the Berkshire records. Robert Hood was born in 1290 in Wakefield to yeoman parents. His father, Adam Hood was in service as a forester to John de Warrenne , Lord of the Manor of Wakefield - an area which included the forest of Barnsdale. Robert Hood was educated at a local school run by John of Wakefield and in adult life became a householder marrying a local girl named Mathilda.
In 1316, Edward II raised troops to fight a Scottish invasion. Robert Hood of Wakefield was fined for failing to answer a summons to serve in the contingent assembled by John de Warrenne. Shortly after this, de Warrenne abducted the wife of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. In 1318, de Warenne, was forced to cede the Manor of Wakefield to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster as compensation. Robert Hood was now a liegeman to a new lord whose estates included Clifton , Pontefract and the Barnsdale Forest - a known haunt of outlaws -which were all important points on the Great North Road which was at the time the main highway through that part of the country. As part of his obligations to his new lord , Robert Hood would certainly have travelled bewteen the various estates.
In 1322, Thomas Earl of Lancaster was one of the leaders of a rebellion against Edward II. At the Battle of Boroughbridge, his forces were defeated and Thomas was beheaded. Robert Hood appears to have participated in the rebellion as his house and lands were seized and he was declared outlaw.
Nothing is known of Robert Hood of Wakefield's later activities - although it is possible that having been outlawed he turned to crime in which case Barnsdale Forest would have been an ideal location for criminal activities as the Great North Road passed through it and Robert would have had a knowledge of the area. However this is speculation based upon several facts which could fit the profile of Robin Hood based on the ballads.
Professor Holt shows in his book that the typography of Barnsdale Forest fits the longest of the earliest known poems "A Gest (Life) of Robyn Hoode". However, the evidence that Robert Hood of Wakefield was the Robin Hood of legend is inconclusive.The theory that the name Robin Hood was a nickname for outlaws is based upon entries in Court records. The earliest date from this source is 1261 which would rule out Robert Hood of Wakefield who was born in 1290.
Another candidate is a Robertus (or Robert) Hod who was declared outlaw at York Assizes in 1226. In 1702, Thomas Gale, Dean of York recorded that Robin Hood had died in 1247 based upon unwritten (and now vanished) local information. Gale would have had access to the Assize records for 1226. Could Robertus Hod have been Robin Hood ? This would fit the dates from the Court records which establish Robin Hood as being a nickname for outlaws but the link is a tenuous one.
Wyntoun's "Chronicle of Scotland" written c.1421 and a Scottish history printed in 1521 however provide a possible outline biography for Robin Hood. According to these sources, Robin Hood was active in the 1190s, declared outlaw in 1225 (almost identical to Robertus Hod) and died in 1247 which would put him in his seventies at the time of his death. An old age for the period but not unknown. This chronology does fit the timescale in the "Gest of Robyn Hoode". However, beyond that we cannot say who was the original Robin Hood.
It is likely that Robin Hood lived in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. He was active in either Sherwood or Barnsdale forests. It is possible that he moved between the two as both were on the Great North Road and he may have moved about in search of richer pickings or to avoid the forces of law and order when things got hot. His name would later become a nickname for outlaws in general and his exploits were to give rise to a popular character of folk-lore. It is possible that elements from early ballads (such as those of Hereward the Wake ) were added to the Robin Hood cycle in order to make them acceptable to a wider audience.